The world expects varying weather events with the arrival of the long anticipated El Nino. Effects such as rising temperatures, heavy rainfall, and even drought should be expected in different parts of the world.
Environmental scientists in the USA have confirmed the arrival of El Nino, a natural climate pattern which causes abnormal warming of surface waters in the Central and Eastern Tropical Pacific Ocean.
The natural weather can result in wide range of effects, including rising temperatures, risks of heavy rainfall, and even drought in some countries of the world. Scientists at the US National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration believe that the weather condition may make the world warmer by 1.5C. The fears of record temperatures in the year 2024 has heightened following its arrival.
The months of scientific speculations about its arrival has finally been confirmed with the recent build up reported to occur in the Pacific Ocean. It is not yet known how harsh the impact of the current El Nino will be. However, it is expected that the weather which arrived earlier than anticipated may last until next spring.
The last two El Nino occurred between 2014-2016, and 2018 – 2019. It is said to often occur irregularly at intervals of 2 – 7 years, while the effect could last between 9 months to 2 years. Previous occurrences of El Nino resulted in wide range of effects that were felt in parts of Africa, Asia, Australia, Europe, North America (including USA and Canada), and South America
El Nino according to National Geographic is a warm phase of a larger phenomenon called El Nino-Southern Oscillation (ENSO). El Nino means ‘little boy’ in Spanish while the colder counterpart, La Nina means ‘little girl’. La Nina results in an unusual cooling of surface waters in the Pacific Ocean. Both El Nino and La Nina are part of the ocean part of ENSO.
ASVEK Science & Tech 